Sergio Garcia at centre of controversy again

Sergio Garcia hits his approach shot to the ninth green during the third round of the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain. (Allan Henry/USA TODAY Sports)

It’s all good here, but it’s hard to believe Sergio Garcia’s gesture of sportsmanship has been blown out of proportion to the point of becoming yet another lightning rod of controversy for a guy who has invited it in the past.

Heck, even when he thinks he’s doing the right thing, the Spaniard is maligned. Certainly, his half-baked “fried chicken” remark about Tiger Woods last year cast a pall over him, but could it be that it sullied his reputation in such a way that people are ready to pounce on him for the most innocent of gestures?

In case you missed it, Garcia conceded a 20-foot putt to Rickie Fowler on the seventh hole of their third-round match during the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play last week in Arizona. Garcia was 2-up at the time and would go on to lose the match to Fowler, who ended up taking third place with his consolation win over Ernie Els.